Black-white wage gaps expand with rising wage inequality

The Economic Policy Institute recently released a report from EPI’s Valerie Wilson and William M Rodgers III of Rutgers titled, “Black-white wage gaps expand with rising wage inequality.” The report documents that since 1979 the black-white wage gap has widened, particularly among the college-educated.

In 1980, black men with a high school diploma earned 15 percent less than their white male counterparts, but black men with a bachelor’s degree or more earned 5 percent less than similar white men.

Fast forward to 2014 and the wage gap for high school-educated black men rose one point to 16 percent, but the gap for college-educated black men grew to an astounding 18 percent. And the gap is similar for black college-educated women, who earn approximately 12 percent less than white college-educated women.

One of the critical findings—after accounting for control factors such as education, differences between region, urban and rural labor markets, and work experience—is that discrimination is a driving force behind the black-white wage gap.